


Changeling

by Sir_Thopas



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Female Loki (Marvel), Gen, Kid Loki (Marvel), Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-02-26 01:07:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18713395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sir_Thopas/pseuds/Sir_Thopas
Summary: Ragnarok was a cycle. The death and rebirth of the gods. And yet, after Ragnarok, there was no rebirth. Only death. They did not return when Asgard was destroyed, they did not return after the Statesman was attacked, and they did not return after the Snap. The cycle was somehow broken. None had come back. Except for one, a little girl with black hair and green eyes and a penchant for mischief.An MCU version of the Kid Loki storyline.





	1. Prologue

There were some things Eva didn’t let herself think about. The miles of dusty, rusted cars sitting forlorn in parking lots. Her sister’s graduation gown hanging in her closet, never worn. The lingering ghosts of nightmares twisting through her stomach with phantom kicks. 

She had been asleep on the night of the Snap, one hand resting on her pregnant belly, the other pressed against Al, entangled in the folds of his shirt. That’s when she felt it. The kicking, restless life beneath her hand crumbled, her stomach emptying itself of what was supposed to be. Her eyes snapped open, fear strangling her as she tried to scream. But it had been a dream. Just a dream. Her eyes had roved over her stomach in the darkness, fingers feeling the stretched, smooth plain of it. The baby was okay. She could feel her, moving, turning, getting into position. She looked over her shoulder at Al, to tell him... she wasn’t sure. She couldn’t remember. All she knew was that he was gone. 

Eva came into the kitchen to find Lucy glued to the television, her spoon frozen half way to her mouth. Reruns of old cartoons played. It was always reruns now. “Finish your breakfast. We have to leave in twenty minutes.” 

Lucy turned to glare at her, shoving the spoon into her mouth. “I don’t have to listen to you,” she retorted. “Your not my real mom.” 

“The hell I’m not,” Eva answered dryly back. It was Lucy’s favorite sentence these days. Picked it up from the TV, probably. 

Lucy tossed her black hair, slightly damp with milk from having fallen into her bowl while leaning over. “My real mom’s a queen, and I’m a princess.” 

Eva rolled her eyes. “Well, her highness is going to be late for school, so finish eating.”

* * *

“That’s very good, Lucy. Do you want to tell me who you’re drawing?” 

Lucy preened under the attention and began to point to each figure. “That’s my Mommy, and that’s my other Mommy. She is a queen, that’s why she has a crown. That’s my Daddy, but he got Disappeared before I was born. That’s why I didn’t give him hair. I don’t know what color it was. That’s also my Daddy. He had only one eye, so that’s why he has an eyepatch. And that’s my brother! He has a red cape.” 

Miss Carmichael smiled sweetly and nodded along. She was used to the strange family portraits her students produced. So many had lost one or both of their parents, were sent to live with far-flung relatives, or were adopted by strangers grieving for their own lost children. The large classroom, fit for twenty students, seemed to swallow the eight, lonely desks. “Was your brother a fan of Thor?” 

Lucy gave her teacher a quizzical look. “Thor?” 

Morgan piped up from a few seats away. “He’s an Avenger like my Daddy!” 

“He’s the strongest Avenger!” Danny said. 

“Nu-uh,” Morgan replied. “The Hulk is. Daddy said so.” 

“Let’s finish our drawings, children,” Miss Carmichael loudly announced to cut off the brewing argument. “And afterwards, I’ll read _Earth’s Mightest Heroes_ for storytime.” Miss Carmichael held up the picture book and Lucy’s eyes fell on the cartoon picture of a large blonde man with a hammer. Her eyes lit up at the sight of him. He looked just like the man in her dreams.

* * *

Lucy kicked her feet against the brick as she sat next to Morgan on the low wall and waited for their parents to pick them up. “Do you want to come to my house and have slumber party?” Lucy asked. 

“I have to ask my Mommy and Daddy first.” Then turning her head to stare at her friend. “What do you do at a slumber party?” 

“Tell stories and stuff. Can I tell you a secret?” Lucy leaned in and whispered into Morgan’s ear. “ _I can do magic._ ” 

Morgan gave her a look. “No, you can’t.” 

“I can too! And my brother is Thor.” 

“You didn’t even know who Thor was! _I_ had to tell you.” 

“I did know! I just didn’t remember, but I know my brother was blonde and had a red cape, which means he’s Thor.” Lucy said with a toss of her hair. 

“You couldn’t remember your brother because he got dusted!” 

“He did not! And I’m not letting you come to my slumber party!” 

“Morgan! Your father is here!” Miss Carmichael called and held out her hand for Morgan to take while she walked the girl to her car. Lucy watched her go and felt the sting of tears flood her eyes. Morgan thought she was so smart just because her daddy was Iron Man. Well, she didn’t know everything! Her brother was Thor, she knew it. She could see herself running beside him through long, golden halls, her other mother calling her name as she laughed.


	2. Chapter 1

Lucy pressed the button on the blu-ray player and watched as the lip popped out. She carefully stuck the DVD onto the tray and grinned as it was swallowed up by the machine. Loud music filled the living room and Lucy swore she heard her mother say from the kitchen, "Please, not again." Mommy was so silly sometimes.

Lucy scooted closer as the other Lucy opened the wardrobe door. This was her favorite part. The other Lucy stretched out her fingers, feeling her way past the fur-lined coats until they touched snow-covered branches. She had exited the stuffy, old house and entered the world of Narnia.

Lucy thought that if she just tried hard enough, she could go to Narnia too and maybe Thor would be there.

"Not so close, sweetie, and it's time for dinner," Mommy said as she came into the living room.

"Not spaghetti!" She cried out.

"Not spaghetti, huh?" Mommy swooped down and picked her up, slinging her this way and that while Lucy shrieked. "How about I feed you worms instead? Big, fat, wiggly worms?"

"No! Ice cream! I want ice cream!"

"Beetle-flavored ice cream?"

Lucy laughed. "Strawberry!"

"If you eat all your dinner, I will let you have a bowl of ice cream." Mommy plopped her down in her chair and Lucy wrinkled her nose at the plate of spaghetti.

"Can you call Morgan's mom and ask if she can come over to play after school tomorrow?" Lucy asked as she twisted the spaghetti onto her fork. And twisted. And twisted. And twisted.

"Are you and Morgan friends again?"

"I have forgiven her," Lucy sniffed.

"How magnanimous of you," her mother said. "But you were the one who lied to her. Did she forgive you?"

"I didn't lie!" Lucy insisted.

"Thor isn't your brother. I think I would have remembered giving birth to the God of Thunder. Now quit playing with your food and eat or you won't get any ice cream."

* * *

Lucy stood in the icy world of Narnia. Her brother was next to her, red cape swirling behind him, hammer in hand. Lucy opened her mouth. Her lips moved. But if any sound came out she couldn't hear it. Thor didn't look at her. He kept his eyes locked onto something in front of them. "Know your place, br--"

Lucy opened her eyes to a dark room. Her collection of American Girl dolls stared back down at her. Lucy threw off her ruffled blanket and grabbed Addy off from the shelf. She clutched her tight to her chest and thought about what Thor had said. "Know your place." What did that mean? Was she in the wrong place? How was she supposed to get to the right one? And could her Mommy come with her, wherever that place was?

Lucy glanced at her closet door. If only she could use her magic to get to the right place. She knew she had it in her. She saw it in her dreams. Lucy reached out and pulled open the door. There were her clothes and her toys and the barbies her uncle insisted on buying her (Lucy did  _not_ like Barbie, she only liked American Girl, thank you very much, grown ups could be so ignorant sometimes.) Lucy closed the door and screwed her eyes shut. She could do this. She could. She had magic. She was--

Lucy opened the door and a cold, bitter wind stung her cheeks and nose. She opened her eyes and saw a winter wonderland yawning out from her closet door. Narnia.

Lucy set Addy on the floor, then thought about it for a moment and picked her up again. It wouldn't be any fun if she didn't have somebody to go with her. Lucy crawled through her closet, wincing as her hands and knees burned with cold as she drug herself through the snow. She turned back and grabbed her pink jacket with the mittens attached to the front and a pair of boots. She quickly shoved them on and stuffed Addy down the front of her jacket to keep her warm. And then she was off.

She didn't see any houses or lampposts. Just strange caves made of ice. Did people live in them? Lucy stuck her head inside one and called out, "Hello?" No answer. She shivered. It was colder in there than it was outside. She continued her long, rambling walk towards the large ice crystal that vaulted out of the ground. When she got close enough she realized it was a tower with arches all around it, leading inside. She hestitantly placed her foot on the polished floor, worried that it would be slippery like ice, but after she took one cautious step, and then another, she realized she wasn't about to fall and began to walk more freely.

Lucy let out a gasp when she came across a giant throne with a monster sitting atop it. The icy creature blearily lifted it's head from it's hand and stared down at her. "How did you get here, little Midgardian child?"

"My name is Lucy," she said without answering. "And I'm not a Midveridian."

A slow, cracking smile crept across it's face. "You smell like one. Such a delicious aroma. When my people lived on your planet we used to eat whole families. Little girls were always so tasty. Ah, but forgive my manners. I have not introduced myself. I am King Helblindi."

"You can't eat me now that we've been introduced," Lucy said. "It's rude." So said the Red Queen to Alice.

King Helblindi shifted on his throne, cradling his head like he was about to take a nap. "I am not hungry. I have already made a meal of berries and mushrooms, and now I am quite sleepy. I think I shall rest now. Run along, little girl. It is time for you to go."

Lucy turned on her feet and fled back to her closet, throwing the door closed behind her. Then she grinned and leaned down to whisper into Addy's hair. "I did it. I can do magic."


	3. Chapter 2

Lucy walked the Barbie past the long line of American Girl dolls perched atop the kitchen counter. They stared impassively down at the Barbie, unmoved by her pleas for mercy. "You have been chosen by the priestesses as a sacrifice to the goddess Lucy. You will now be thrown into the volcano!" Lucy shoved the Barbie head first into the garbage disposal.

"If you even  _think_ of turning that on..." Lucy hopped off the stool at the sound of Mommy's voice and snatched up her dolls, giving her the sweetest smile she could muster as she held her dolls to her chest.

Mommy did not look convinced, but she didn't send her to time out either. All she said was, "There's someone here to see you."

Morgan peeked her head into the kitchen. Lucy dropped her dolls on the floor and ran up to her friend, pulling on her wrist towards her room.

"Hey, don't leave those on the floor!"

Lucy ran back into the kitchen and scooped up her American Girl dolls, waving at Morgan's mom, who had settled in at the table, as she passed. Mommy yanked the Barbie out of the garbage disposal and handed it to her, "This one too."

Mommy had started a pot of coffee. "Can I have some?" Lucy asked, sniffing the air.

"Yeah, sure, it'll put some hair on your chest."

"Ew!" Lucy ran to her bedroom while her Mommy and Morgan's mom laughed.

Morgan was sitting on her bed, waiting for her. Lucy dumped her dolls and snatched up a pair of coats from her closet. "Here, put this on!"

"What are we playing?" Morgan asked as she shrugged it on.

Lucy zipped up her pink coat. "Narnia. But you have to close your eyes until I say so."

Morgan stuck out her lip. "You're not going to try to trick me, are you?"

"No! Please, please, please, I promise it will be fun!"

"Okay."

Morgan closed her eyes and Lucy had to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep from squealing with excitement. She threw open her closet door and snowflakes tumbled across her floor. Morgan shivered, but kept her eyes closed. "Your mommy let's you touch the thermostat?"

Lucy didn't answer. She took her hand again and pulled her through the closet and into Narnia. Morgan's eyes snapped open the moment her shoes crunched against the snow and she stared around her in awe at the white, icy world around her.

Lucy jumped around, kicking up snow as she went. "I told you! I told you! I can do magic!"

Morgan let out a laugh of pure delight. She threw herself on the ground and began to roll, waving her arms up and down to make a snow angel. Lucy helped her get back up and the two started to run, hand-in-hand. "Come on! I want to show you King Hellblendy."

"That's a bad word," Morgan chided.

"I can't help it! It's his name! We have to be very quiet because if he sees us he'll gobble us up!"

The two girls tiptoed through the tower, shushing each other as they went. But when they came to the throne they saw King Helblindi slouched against it, his head tipped to one side, and a fine layer of snow covering him. "Is he asleep?" Morgan whispered. Lucy could only shrug.

* * *

"What's this place called again?" Carol asked.

"I don't know. Joo-ton-heem? Jut-ten-hem?" Rocket struggled with the letters that appeared on the small data cortex in his hands.

Carol peeked over to look at it. "Jut-ton-haym maybe?"

"Who cares. Anyway they used to be a part of the Asgardian Empire. Lots of bad blood between them and Thor's people. Haven't heard a peep from them since the Snap."

"Let's check on them then. See if they need any help."

The first settlement they came to was devoid of all life. The sculpted caves looked to have been abandoned for decades and deep, unnatural fissures pocked the ground. They pressed forward and found a city with a spiralling tower made of ice perched in the center square. It was deathly quiet.

"There should still be 50% left right?" Rocket asked. "So where are the rest of these jotunheimers?"

Carol popped out from one of the ice caves, her face hard and angry. "They're dead."

"How?"

"Suicide. Poison, most likely. They're just lying there, curled up like-- did you hear that?"

Before Rocket could answer, Carol flew off. She flew into the tower where she saw a pair of squabbling five year old human girls daring each other to go poke the corpse of the largest ice giant Carol had ever seen. Slowly, they stopped talking and turned their heads to look up at Carol, their eyes as round as saucers.

"Daddy is going to be so mad at me." One whispered to the other.

Carol narrowed her eyes as recognition filled her. "What is it with you Starks and getting stranded in space?"


	4. Chapter 3

"She just gets bored so easily. I really don't think she's being challenged enough. She's reading well beyond her level. She's already read _Alice in Wonderland_ by herself!" Eva said as she took a sip of her coffee.

Pepper sighed. "I just don't know if having her skip first grade next year is the answer. Tony missed a lot of milestones by skipping so many grades. He never really learned how to properly socialize with people until he was much, much older. Lucy will have it worse than Tony, just because there are so few kids now."

"What about Morgan? Lucy says that the teacher is always praising her work. I think she's jealous." Eva gave a little laugh.

"She's pretty good with numbers, but I don't know if that's the Stark in her or the fact that Tony and Rhodey have been teaching her to play poker. They're turning her into a little cardshark." Pepper gave a little shake of her head. "Regardless, Tony is very adamant about not putting any academic pressure on her. He was doing some pretty advanced mathematics at her age, but she's just a normal five year old. We prefer it that way."

Pepper felt her phone go off and excused herself from the table as she reached into her pocket to answer it. Tony's name lit up across the screen. "Hey. What's up?"

 _Okay, don't panic. Is Eva there? Don't panic._ Those were the first words Tony said.

"Tony..." Pepper warned. Her heart was thundering inside her chest. Oh God, what had happened?

_I have Morgan and Lucy with me._

Pepper blinked. "No, you don't."

_Yes, I do. Carol and the raccoon picked them up off of an alien planet._

"They've been playing quietly in Lucy's room all day."

Eva sat up straight when Pepper said that, but Pepper ignored her. She was already hurrying towards Lucy's room. Pepper threw open the door and stood still at the threshold. Dolls on the floor, closet door wide open. But no Morgan. No Lucy. Eva came in behind her. "Lucy?" She called out. She looked in the closet, under the bed. "Lucy?!" Her voice became strangled when her search turned up nothing.

Pepper grabbed her by the hand. "It's okay. Tony has them," she said before turning her attention back to Tony. "How did they end up there?"

_Lucy said they were kidnapped by space pirates._

"And I take it you don't believe her?"

_She claimed the captain had a parrot and a peg leg. Her story was one bad sword fight away from being an Errol Flynn movie. Morgan has yet to confirm or deny it. She just does her potty dance wiggle every time I ask her. Natasha offered to use advanced interrogation techniques on them, which I think means she's going to try to bribe them with candy._

"You're at the Avengers compound? Okay, Eva and I are on our way."

* * *

Tony rubbed his eyes. Morgan and Lucy were across the room, trying to pet Rocket while he fled from their little fingers. "You were _where_?"

"Jut-ton-haym."

Tony glared at her. "Do you mean Jotunheim?"

"Yo-tun-heym? That's how you pronounce it?" Carol shrugged. "Huh."

"You do know that Jotunheim is the planet Loki is from right? God of Mischief, almost destroyed New York?"

"So where is he? We can ask him how they got there." The way Carol said it left very little doubt in Tony's mind that Carol's version of "asking" used a lot less words and a lot more fists.

"Dead. Maybe. According to Thor, anyway, but from what I heard playing dead is a specialty of Loki's."

Lucy sat up when she heard Thor's name. She crawled out from underneath the table from where she had been trying to grab Rocket's tail to run over to them. "Thor? What about Thor?"

Tony rolled his eyes. Morgan had told him all about her friend's obsession with Thor. As far as Tony was concerned, there were much better and cooler Avengers to fangirl over. "Nothing. Go back to playing with Morgan and Rocket."

Lucy frowned up at him, her eyes narrowing as she considered what to say. "I _might_ remember how we got there," Lucy said slowly. "If I can meet Thor."

"You little shit."

"I'm telling Mommy!" Morgan yelled from across the room. Rocket used the distraction to make his escape.


	5. Chapter 4

"I think little miss over there is going to be pretty disappointed when she comes face to face with the God of Thunder," Natasha remarked as she dialed Thor's number.

"That bad, huh?" Tony asked, but then Thor's voice came across the speaker, cutting Natasha off from whatever she was about to say.

"--damn buttons are too small. Thor speaking."

"Thor, it's Natasha."

"Natasha! It has been a long time since I have heard your voice. How do you fare?"

"We've got a situation here at the compound and we could really use your expertise."

"... I would like to assist you, but there is much to do here in New Asgard--"

"Thor, it involves two five year old girls appearing on Jotunheim, as if by _magic_."

The line went dead. A few minutes later Tony could hear the distant sound of thunder. Natasha gave him an amused look. "I thought that might get his attention."

Tony's eyes widened as Thor barreled into the compound. Lightning raced across his skin as his feet touched the floor, Stormbreaker in hand. It was very impressive. The rest of Thor... not so much. A diet of beer and more beer had left him with a greatly expanded waistline, his hair and beard did not look to be on friendly terms with a comb, and the sweater he was wearing was filthy and stained. It could have been red, or it could have been orange. Tony figured it would take four washings to tell.

"My brother?" The word choked in his throat.

"We don't know if Loki is behind this, or what his motivation could possibly be for kidnapping two girls and dumping them on Jotunheim," Natasha said. "All we know is Tony's daughter and her friend were playing together on earth, with Pepper and the other girl's mother in the next room, and then Carol found them on Jotunheim. No one heard anything, no one saw anything."

Thor turned his gaze to Carol. "They are unharmed? The Frost Giants would not look kindly on Midgardian trespassers."

"They're all dead," Carol explained.

"What?"

"Jotunheim was little more than a ruin. We found only ninety-eight Frost Giants on the entire planet. They had committed mass suicide."

Thor stumbled to a chair and sank down on it, in grief or drunkenness Tony wasn't sure. "I had not thought of them at all until now, nor the light elves or the Vanir, or any of the other multitudes of people who made up my father's empire. I have only thought of my own Asgardians. The Frost Giants have suffered blow after blow: the Casket of Ancient Winters, Loki's attempted destruction of their planet. With the Bifrost destroyed they would have been unable to leave. I suppose they wanted to die on their terms." Thor rubbed at his eyes.

Tony could hear the sound of many tiny feet running across the floor. He braced himself and not a second later Morgan and Lucy burst into the room. "Thor?" Lucy called out, nearly vibrating with energy and excitement.

Thor stood up. "Aye?"

Lucy stared at him for a moment, her face twisted in confusion. Then she crumbled. Tony took a half step back. He recognized the signs of an impending meltdown when he saw it. "You're not Thor!"

Thor shrugged helplessly. "I assure you, young one, I am indeed Thor."

Lucy responded by throwing herself face first onto the floor and wailing between sobs, "You smell!"

Morgan crouched down beside her and patted her hair in hopes of comforting her. "He  _does_ smell," she agreed.

Thor turned to look at Tony, who could only shrug. "'Don't look at me. I don't know why she's so fixated on you. Even tried to convince Morgan that you were her brother. Although considering what your actual sister was like, I would say that--" Tony gestured to the screaming child. "Is a step up."

Thor hesitantly walked up to the child. Morgan stepped away and ran to her father's side, clinging at his pant leg. Thor picked up Lucy by the back of her shirt and held her at arm's length. He tried to set her on her feet, but Lucy refused to make her legs work and every time Thor let go she would flop back down again. Thor huffed in frustration. "Enough of this. I am Thor."

Lucy looked up at him, her face bright red. "You're not! Thor has a red cape and a hammer and he's not old!"

Thor felt the sting of that. Old? He looked old? One of the others -- he suspected it might be Carol -- choked back a laugh. Thor tried once again to reason with the unreasonable. "It is only because you are used to seeing pictures of me in full regalia on television--"

Lucy jerked into a sitting position. "No! I never watched you on TV! You were there on Narnia with me!"

"Narnia? Where is Narnia?"

Carol answered for her. "That's what she called Jotunheim. I guess because of all the snow."

Thor nodded and turned back to Lucy. "Ah. You are confused, little one. It was not I that was with you, but Morgan--"

"NO!" Lucy screamed again. "Before I took Morgan there, it was Thor and me! And Thor said to me, 'know your place' and I was just trying to find it!"

"Wait," Tony interrupted, his hand reaching down to grasp Morgan's hand. "What do you mean you took Morgan there? You did it on purpose? How?"

Lucy did not answer him. Her eyes were locked on Thor who had gone deathly still, his face hard and impassive. And then it broke. A smile blossomed across his face and his one good eye became wet with tears. "It is a fine joke, Loki. You win. But you do not have to fling my past hurtful words in my face like that." At his words, Tony scooped up Morgan and carried her across the room to stand by the door, ready to take her some place safe in case Loki decided to do more than just pretend to be a kindergartner.

"My name is Lucy," the girl said. "Not Loki."

"Enough, brother. Have mercy and drop this charade. Have you been to New Asgard yet? It is but a tiny village, but together I am sure we can turn it into something great."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" The hot tears had returned to Lucy's eyes and they were streaming freely down her reddening face. "I want my Mommy!"

"Are you sure that's Loki?" Tony asked.

"I am sure." Thor's voice held no room for argument. "I know my brother and have learned to recognize him, whatever form he may wear."

"Okay..." Tony still did not sound convinced, but nor did he argue. "Then where is the real Lucy Fairchild? Because there is definitely a real Lucy. Pepper has been in the same mommy parenting group with Eva Fairchild for the past three years now. I had to look at Lucy's baby pictures. She and Morgan regularly pretend to be ponies, something that I don't think Loki would do, not even to try to convince others he was really a five year old girl."

Thor nodded and looked back at Lucy. "Where is the girl? Did you leave her on Jotunheim?"

Lucy only cried harder.

Thor growled under his breath and lifted Stormbreaker. "Enough of your tricks! Do you think because I lack Mjolnir that I cannot force you to return to your true form? You will answer me, brother, where is the girl?!"

"What the hell is going on here?"

Eva ran into the room, Pepper not far behind her. As soon as she took in the scene -- a strange man with a giant axe, its blade hovering inches above her sobbing child -- Eva raced over to them and snatched Lucy, pushing her until she was shielded behind her own body while Thor straightened to his full height. Lucy clutched at his mother's legs, sobbing into the back of her knees. "Madam, I realize this may look alarming, but that girl is not your daughter."

"The hell she isn't," Eva snapped back.

"She is my brother, Loki. He has assumed your daughter's form."

Eva craned her neck to look down at Lucy. "Lucy, which American Girl lived on the frontier?"

"Kirsten," came the answer between the cries and hiccups.

Eva looked back at Thor. "That's Lucy. That's my daughter."

"My brother is a master of deception, but I know the feel of his magic. He has admitted to spiriting Morgan Stark to another planet and Loki is one of the few beings in this universe capable of worldwalking. Now step aside and let me do what I must to return your true daughter to you."

Thor stepped closer and in that instant Lucy was gone, fleeing from the room. She raced down down the long corridor, throwing open the first door she saw and jumping inside. Thor and the others were only a few steps behind. Thor wrenched on the knob, crushing it as he flung the door open to follow after her, only to stand there in confusion as he stared at a jumble of assorted objects. It was a storage closet. An empty storage closet that held nothing but junk. No Loki. With a scream, Thor slammed it shut, causing a crack to appear along the surface of the wall.


	6. Chapter 5

When Lucy stepped out of the closet, she found herself standing in a strange bedroom. Glow-in-the-dark stars were pasted all along the ceiling and there were drawings of rainbows taped to the wall. Strangest of all though was the little boy sitting on the bed with the covers pulled up just below his large, myopic eyes. He stared at her, stuck a finger behind his glasses to rub at his eyes, and then started staring again, squinting as though that would make her disappear. Lucy said the only thing she could think of, "Hi."

"Are you a ghost?" The boy whispered.

Lucy thought about it for a moment. "Yes."

"How did you die?" He demanded. "Were you bitten by a poisonous snake?"

"No!" Lucy was almost offended. She liked snakes. "A spider laid eggs in my ear and when they hatched my head exploded."

The boy threw down the blanket. "You're lying. That can't happen."

"How do you know it couldn't?"

"I read a lot." The boy puffed out his chest with pride. "My teacher says I'm very advanced."

"So? I can read too and I'm only in kindergarten."

"No, you can't! Stop lying!"

Lucy stomped over to where the little bookshelf sat, grabbed the nearest book and read, "Then Peter knew there was not a moment to lose. 'Come!' He cried imperiously, and soared out at once into the night, followed by Michael and John and Wendy."

The boy looked like he had swallowed a lemon. "Fine. You can read. But you're not dead and you're not a ghost or you wouldn't have been able to pick up that book. It would have gone right through you."

"I'm not dead," Lucy admitted. "What's your name?"

"Henry. What's yours?"

"I'm Lucy."

"How did you get into my closet?" He asked, finally brave enough to climb down from his bed.

Lucy shrugged. "It's magic. Sometimes, when I open a door it doesn't always go where it's supposed to."

Henry ran over to his closet and threw open the door. "All I see are my clothes. And a dead cockroach."

"I have to be the one to open it," Lucy said with a haughty little shake of her head.

"Could you do it? Please? I want to see it!"

Lucy hesitated. What if it led her back to the imposter? Whoever he was, he wasn't Thor. Thor was nice and he brushed his teeth.

Henry saw the scared look on her face. "Did you come from some place bad? Is that why you were crying?"

"I wasn't crying!"

"Your face is all wet."

"I'm not scared and I wasn't crying!" Lucy shouted and yanked on the closet door. Henry's clothes were gone. In their place was a towering monster made of stone.

"Golem!" Henry screamed. "Close it quick!"

Lucy shoved at the door with all her might but it was blocked by the monster's big body. "Oh, hey," he said as he held up a Wii controller in one great fist. "We were just about to start a new game. Want to play?"


	7. Chapter 6

Five year olds did not have well-developed motor skills. Korg had decided on a nice, friendly game of Mario Kart to keep the kids occupied. Full of bright colors, happy characters, and none of the rude language of noobmaster69. Henry had gotten his car turned around and was now driving the wrong way as a flying turtle beeped angrily at him. Lucy had decided that the main object of the game was to hit as many things as possible.

"Good job," Korg congratulated after she had just rammed her car into Donkey Kong. Who was he to tell her that she was playing it wrong?

"Thank you!" The girl chirped as she aimed her car straight at one of the tall, wiggly cactuses.

"Mary never let's me play video games. She says it will ruin my eyesight," Henry said. His car was now being fished out of the water.

Lucy retorted, "Your eyes are already bad. And who's Mary?"

"My foster mom."

"Did your real mom get dusted?"

"No, she's in jail."

Lucy dropped her controller and stared at Henry, her eyes huge. "Woah. What did she do?"

Henry wiggled nervously. "I was only a baby so I don't actually remember it, but my mom tried to throw me in to the fireplace. I heard Mary talking about it one time. She was our neighbor before she took me in. She saw my mom holding me over the fire. She said I wasn't her baby, that I was a changeling and it was the only way to get her real baby back. Mary doesn't know that I know."

"Your mom is crazy," Lucy said, her voice firm and definitive. She picked up her controller again, selected Princess Daisy from the cast of characters, and chose the hardest course she could find: Rainbow Road.

"Maybe we should tell Valkyrie about the kids," Korg whispered to Miek. Miek made a noise that probably meant yes and hopped off the couch while Korg turned back to the children. "Everything alright?" He asked.

Neither one said anything. They both sat there, transfixed by the television. Korg could see nothing out of the ordinary. There was Rainbow Road, the painted on stars, and the other drivers passing them by. "I had a dream like this," Lucy whispered. "At the end of the road there is a man. He's very bad and he wants to kill me."

"I've had that exact same dream!" Henry said.

"It was only a dream," Korg tried to comfort them. "There are no bad men, and if there are I'll protect you."

"Can you protect us from snakes?" Henry asked.

"Sure. They don't have any arms. I don't think it'll be hard to fight them."

"I  _like_ snakes," Lucy said, her voice indignant. "They're cute!"

"I don't like snakes. Sometimes, I have nightmares about a giant snake living in my bathtub." Henry shuddered.

The door opened and Valkyrie stood before them, hands on her hips. "How did they get here?"

Korg shrugged. "They were in the closet with all the towels."

Valkyrie leveled her gaze at the girl. "So, you're the one Thor thinks is Loki?"

"This is Lucy," Korg corrected but Valkyrie ignored him. Her eyes remained fixed on the girl.

"Kind of an odd look for you."

Lucy looked down at her pink overalls and green striped shirt. "These are my favorite clothes. I wanted the shoes with the lights but my mommy said no."

Valkyrie's eyebrows shot up her forehead. "Yeah... I don't think this is Loki. Which means he's really cracked." She sighed and pulled out her phone from her back pocket. "Thor, we found the girl and she brought a boy with her."

* * *

Thor cracked a smile as Valkyrie's voice echoed from the speaker on his phone. "That is excellent news!"

"Boy?" Morgan asked. "What boy? Me and Lucy _do not_ play with boys."

"He says his name is Henry Matthews. Apparently Lucy first ended up in his closet, before somehow traveling into yours, Thor."

"Loki is a world-walker. He has always managed to find the hidden paths between places without use of the Bifrost. It used to drive Heimdall to madness," Thor said fondly.

Tears had sprung up in Morgan's eyes and before Thor could say anything else she burst out, "I'm Lucy's best friend, not some boy!"

Steve Rogers entered the room as Tony lifted his daughter into his arms in hopes of calming her down. "I came as soon as I heard that she had somehow ended up on an alien planet," Steve said. "Is she alright?"

"She's not hurt," Tony answered stiffly. He glanced at Steve before looking away again. "She's tired, her best friend has met a boy, and also might be a supervillain, but other than that she's fine."

"Oh," Steve said. "Huh."

"Lucy is not a supervillain," Eva interjected. "She's just a normal little girl who somehow keeps appearing inside other people's closets, sometimes closets on alien worlds. That makes her a mutant, maybe, but not evil and frankly I think it's very bigoted of you to talk about my daughter like that."

"Everyone here is a full supporter of mutant rights," Steve was quick to assure her.

"But she is no mutant," Thor insisted. "That little girl is my brother in disguise."

"Wait, what?" Steve asked. "Can someone get me caught up here?"

Several voices rose up at once. Steve tried to figure out who to focus on: Natasha's report, Carol's description of the planet, Valkyrie on speaker phone, Thor's stories about Loki, Eva waving Lucy's baby pictures, Tony loudly saying, "I've already seen them! I don't need to see them again!"

Somehow a small, crackly voice broke through all of it. Steve's eyes drifted to the security cameras where he saw Scott waving at them.


End file.
